Robert J. Shiller

Robert J. Shiller

About the author:

Professor of Economics at Yale University and author of "Finance and the Good Society". Served as Vice President of the American Economic Association in 2005, and President of the Eastern Economic Association for 2006-2007. Co-founder and chief economist of the investment management firm MacroMarkets LLC.

Speculative bubbles, or market bubbles, have often been seen as the cause of financial crises. But, before we conclude that we should rein in the markets, we need to consider the alternative: that bubbles are actually social epidemics that could arise even in the absence of financial markets.